Good Natured
by Mi5chief Managed
Summary: This story surrounds the characters Alaric the son of Eric and Ariel and Scarlet the daughter of the Queen of Hearts. The tale starts on the day that Scarlet escapes from the clutches of her evil mother and finds Alaric. As Alaric and Scarlet become closer secrets unfold and Scarlet may find out she is not who she thinks she is.
1. Chapter 1

I was running, running as fast as my legs would take me. I needed to get away, somewhere where she could no longer hurt me. But I was trapped within the walls just like the rest of us. As the wall came into view my sprint slowed. What was I thinking? That magically there would be a hole in the wall that I could just slip through or a way for me to climb over. I approached the wall searching for any flaw, any way to escape.

For all I knew she was right behind me. All I had really done was corner myself. As soon as she found me I knew I would be in a world of pain, more than I was even now. Tears brimmed my eyes, there had to be a way! I punch the wall in frustration waiting for the harsh impact of my fist to the hard stone, but it doesn't come. Instead my fist goes right through the wall as if nothing is there. I try touch the wall but my hand goes right through again. Could this be some sort of portal?

"Sscaarrlleett!" I tense up at the sound of my name being called. She must be close.

I slip my hand through the wall up to my elbow trying to feel if there is anything on the other side. It must lead somewhere, right?

"Scarlet! You can run but you can't hide!"

I can't stay here and with nothing to lose I slide through the wall. I am blinded for a moment but as the light fades I am met by a beautiful site. The sun shines down on large castle like buildings encircle a garden with a large stone walkway. The garden and walkway are enclosed by a magnificent decorative iron fence. I slowly step closer to the gateway and realize how dizzy I feel. I stumble, my legs feeling like jello, I need to lie down. I try to get closer to the gate wanting to read what the sign above it says. Havenville Prep, that can't possibly be right. I hear the gate open with a creak. Havenville Prep this must be a dream. My vision starts to go blurry, oh no, I'm going to faint.

"Are you okay?" A male voice asks. But I can't seem to answer, everything is spinning and before I slump to the ground I feel strong arms encircle me. I see a pair of ocean blue eyes before everything goes black.

I wake up to the sun streaming in. I cringe away from the light, it's something I wasn't accustom to living within the wall. The wall, I jolt upright and regret it immediately. My head spins and I lie back down. Did I really escape?

"You're awake." I tense up. "It's okay your safe here." I look to where the voice is coming from but am blinded by the light shining in from the window. I cup my hand over my eyes trying to shield the light.

"Oh sorry." The voice draws the curtain, and the room fades to a comfortable shade. My eyes adjust and I look to the person who is now standing at the foot of the bed. He is a very handsome young man probably around my age with black messy styled hair and ocean blue eyes. He's tall and seems to fill up the room with his elegance and confidence, but yet has a sort of roguishness to him.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Um who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?" Before I know it a trail of questions come out.

The guy seems a bit startled for a moment but then composes himself again. "Well my name is Alaric. I'm the son of King Eric and Ariel. You are in the infirmary at Havenville Prep. I found you at the gate 2 days ago and you were in pretty bad shape, so I brought you here."

I take a moment to process the information, I really did it. I escaped the wall. I'm safe.

"So who are you?" I look up and meet Alaric's gentle eyes.

Should I tell the truth? How else would I try to explain the wild events? But what if he sends me back? Technically I'm not really allowed to be here, the whole point of the wall is to keep us in. But maybe if I tell him about why I left, he'll feel bad and let my stay. No, that's stupid, people don't care. Though I did here that people outside the wall are all loving and caring, but that could just be a myth.

"It's okay you can tell me." I really want to believe those kind looking blue eyes, but I really can't risk being sent back.

"Um I'm Ivy. The distant relative of Sleeping Beauty. I was on my way to Havenville Prep when there was an accident. In the um forest…"

"The forbidden forest?" Alaric asks suspiciously.

"Y-yes, we were taking a shortcut through the forbidden forest when we were attacked by… something."

"Mmh it could have been a dragon or maybe a griffin, they can get pretty territorial. Were you traveling with others?"

I nod my head, allowing myself to tear up. I am so bad. I let the tears run down my cheeks as I answer, "Just a driver, b-but he, he was…"

I feel a hand on my back, "It's okay, I understand."

I wipe the false tears away with the back of my hand and give a small smile. "So you said I've been unconscious for 2 days?"

"Just about. You were pretty badly injured and probably exhausted from your journey."

"Injured?" What kinds of injuries did they find?

"Well when I carried you in your shoulder was bleeding pretty badly, and I saw the nurse stitch you up."

I looked down at my shoulder and noticed the bandage around it for the first time. The injury had been no accident, I had noticed that it was sore but I hadn't noticed that she had broken the skin. I'm just hoping that Alaric and the nurse didn't noticed any of my past "injury" marks, that doesn't exactly speak goodness.

"Don't worry the nurse said you would be able to leave either tomorrow or the day after. Did you want us to contact any family members?"

Oh damn, this lie is getting more tricky to keep up. "Um no, I don't want to worry them. I got where I needed to go. So…"

Alaric gives me another suspicious look but doesn't say anything. "Well I'm going to go straighten out your paperwork, so you can start classes soon. Is there anything you need?"

"No I don't think so. Thank you so much for all of your help Alaric." I smile as sweetly as I can.

"It's no problem at all Ivy. It's what heroes do, right?" Alaric says with a wink.

I force a laugh, "Of course." This place really is nothing like the land within the wall. As a child living within the wall we had always heard stories from the adults, of the time when the wall didn't exist. When villains freely roamed the land and got to do terrible things and spread evil and all that crap. But then one day the heroes had had enough and rounded up all the villains and put them inside a magical boundary known as the wall. It's truly a terrible place to live, dirty and unsafe. Everyone is unhappy, which if you're evil is a good thing I guess, but I had always felt out of place. Unlike some of the other kids I had never had the urge to do terrible things to people, and that always upset my mother, the Queen of Hearts. I tried my best but disappointed her often, and when I disappointed I was punished. I shiver ran through me with the thought.

"Are you okay?"

It was then that I noticed Alaric hadn't left yet. "Oh yea fine. Just a chill."

"Alright," Alaric's silent look seemed to last a second too long, and for some reason it made me want to blush, something that had never happened before. I looked at my hands, avoiding his eyes. "Well I guess I'll go then, try to get some rest Ivy."

"I will, bye."

With one last glance Alaric left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

I sat in bed for a few minutes just taking in the room, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The walls were a bright shade of yellow and there were a few pictures hung up with quotes like, "Listen with your heart," and "Remember you're the one who can fill the world with sunshine", gross. There was a large wooden desk on the other side of the room cluttered with papers, another bed (which was empty) and a few cabinets. Beside my bed there was a small side table with a vase filled with large red roses. I cringed, these were my mother's favorite.

Carefully I slide off the bed. I get my balance and straighten up suddenly realizing how sore I am. I give the roses another glance before roughly grabbing them out of the vase with my good arm. I walk over to the window and slide it open and toss the flowers out, not caring to see where they land I shut the window.

This is my new life, a fresh start, I don't want any reminds of my past.

"Dear, what are you doing out of bed? You need rest." I am startled by a voice. I turn around and see a women grabbing something out of the cabinet.

"Who are you?"

"Why I'm the nurse, dear. My name is Helpful."

"Your name is Helpful?" How literal can you get?

"Yes. I am Happy's daughter." I looked at her a bit confused. "One of the seven dwarfs'."

"Oh." Who knew one of them had a kid?

"Now back to bed." She gently guides me back to the bed.

"But I feel much better. Can't I leave?" I know it's probably hopeless but I'm hoping some classic puppy dog eyes will work.

"That's good, dear. But just to be safe I want you to stay another night. In the morning we can see how you feel, alright?" She hands me what she grabbed from the cabinet. I take it in my hand, it's a single white pill. I give her a questioning look. "It will help you heal faster."

"Can't you just heal me with magic?" My mother had always envied those you had the gift of magic. Though I don't know why because magic was forbidden within the wall.

"Not many still practice magic anymore, dear." Helpful gave me a quizzical look.

"I know that, I was just hoping, you know?" Oops.

"Now go on take your medicine." She handed me a glass of water.

I complied and swallowed the pill with a gulp of water.

"Now just get some rest, you'll feel much better when you do."

"But I told you I already feel better, plus I'm not tired." A yawn suddenly escaped my lips. What?

The nurse smiled. "I'll check on you in the morning."

My eyelids began to feel heavy. "Wait, what time is it?"

"About 4:30."

I lied back on the bed unable to support my weight. My eyelids fluttered fighting the urge to close. Had that nurse drugged me? Maybe these people weren't has good as I thought

I slowly open my eyes, blinking away the drowsiness. I looked out the window the sky was just lightening up. You could see the rays of sunlight peeking through the trees. It must have been early. Wait, that nurse drugged me. What was going on? I looked around the room, making sure she wasn't lurking in the corners, she did say she was going to check on me in the morning. As I scanned the room, something else caught my eye. In the vase there was a new bouquet of flowers, but this time they were bright green roses. They were an odd site, a color I had never seen before in roses, they were the color of my eyes. I touched the petals lightly I had never liked roses before but these were beautiful. It was then I noticed a note attached.

Good Morning Ivy,

I hope you slept well. When the nurse lets you out come find me. I'll be in the library. Cydney will show you the way.

-Alaric

P.s I hope you like the green roses more than the last ones.

When I was done reading the note I realized a small smile had formed on my lips. I wasn't sure why but it kind of annoyed me, I let the smile fall. So Alaric brought the flowers. I wonder if he saw me throw the red ones out the window? And who was Cydney? I guess I would just have to wait and see.

I lied in bed for what felt like a few more hours, when the nurse waltzed in. Helpful was carrying a tray of food. She placed the tray on the side table. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Good. You drugged me." It was more of a statement then a question.

"You needed sleep and with your stubborn attitude I knew you weren't going to get it on your own. Now eat up."

I would have questioned her more, but I was too hungry to argue. I was just finishing my very delusion breakfast (they sure didn't have food like this in the wall), when a girl walked in. She had shoulder length golden blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress and was carrying a tan tote bag. Her bubblegum pink lips formed into a kind smile. "Hi, I'm Cydney."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hi?" It came out more like a question. Her bubbly attitude kind of caught me off guard. Is this what all the girls are like in Havenville?

"Your name is Ivy, right? I'm the President here at Havenville Prep and a close friend of Alaric." She adds with a private sort of smile that for some reason makes me want to cringe.

"Um it's nice to meet you."

"So you're related to Sleeping Beauty?" Cydney asks.

"Y-yes, a distant relative though. How about you?"

"Cinderella and Prince Charming of course." Cydney runs her hand through her hair, bringing attention to her _golden locks_.

"Oh yes I see that now."

Cydney seemed to really look at me for a moment. No shame in just staring at me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking but she finally spoke. "I guess you kind of look like a Sleeping Beauty, I mean you do have blonde hair, but there's just something about you…"

"Well like I said, distant relative ." I hoped that would get her to stop staring at me like some kind of freak.

She suddenly seemed to come to her senses, "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I didn't mean to stair, it's just you're very beautiful. Green eyes like that are very rare here."

I was completely startled by the word, beautiful. No one had ever called me beautiful and for the second time in my life I felt the heat of a blush on my cheeks. I wasn't sure how to respond, but luckily I didn't have to.

"Awe aren't you cute. Well," Cydney handed me the tote bag. "In here are a change of clothes. The ones you came in were completely shredded, and well you don't have any luggage, so I made you something. I hope it fits, I wasn't entirely sure of your measurements." She smiled at me, waiting for me to look inside the bag.

So I did just that and I was overwhelmed by the color purple. I cautiously pulled out the garment to get a better look. It was a dress, a dark purple dress and what surprised me most was that I liked it.

"So what do you think?"

"I-I like it, thank you."

"Your welcome, now put it on." Cydney pulled the curtain shut around my bed so I had some privacy. I carefully got out of bed and slid the paper gown off. I was worried about having to pull the dress over my head because of my shoulder when I noticed the zipper on the dress. The zipper started at the top of the dress and ran to the waist line. Had Cydney done that purposely so I would be able to easily put the dress on? I stepped through the skirt of the dress and cautiously slid my arms through the sleeves. Now I just need to zip it up, I reached around with my good arm and tried tugging the zipper up with no luck. This was a two hand job, I would need…help.

All the while Cydney was just babbling on. "I've always had a talent for clothe making, I really am just good at telling what people like and most importantly what colors look good on them. That's key and when I saw your blonde hair-." She broke off suddenly, "Do you need any help in there?"

"Uh um yes. It's just the zipper." I had never asked for help before and I was thankful I wouldn't have to start now.

Cydney slid the curtain back and gently zipped the zipper. "There you go." I turned around to face her and she smiled. "Perfect, go look in the mirror."

I walked over to the mirror and for the first time smiled at my our reflection. The dark purple dress fit perfectly. It was a plain fabric that fell just above my knee and the long sleeves and small V-neck were both flattering and did a good job of hiding my bandages. I turned to Cydney, "Thank you."

She waved a hand at me, "Oh it's no problem. Here are some shoes," she handed my some black ballet flats. "Now let's brush that hair of yours." I glanced back to the mirror and cringed at the sight of my blonde hair, it was one massive clomp of tangles.

After about 15 minutes Cydney had somehow worked her magic and was able to untangle my hair. It now lay in pleasant waves at my shoulders. "You have really nice hair Ivy, you should considering growing it out, I bet I'd look so pretty."

As a child I had always been told my hair was my worst feature and for that reason I had always kept it short, the less of it the better. It was strange to hear someone compliment it. With my mother's raven black hair, my light blonde hair had always made me feel like some kind of abomination. It was rare to see someone with blonde hair within the wall.

Cydney looked at her gold watch and then stood up, "Well we better get going. Don't want to keep Alaric waiting."


	4. Chapter 4

Slowly I followed Cydney down a long hallway filled with mirrors. Looking at them as I passed I realized they weren't reflecting what was in front of them. I stopped in front of one, hoping to see my reflection but instead I saw a grand ballroom filled with people dancing in large gowns. It was kind of creepy, and I turned to Cydney who was stopped up ahead. "W-what?"

She walked back to me giving a glance at the mirror herself. "Oh they're magic mirrors, they can show you all sorts of things, past, future, present. It really only works for people with magic though, for the rest of us it just looks like a jumble of different imagines, so we just ignore them."

"W-wait you don't- what do you see?"

Cydney glances at the mirror again, really seeming to look this time, "Well right not it looks like a field, maybe of flowers but it could also be…" She trails off, "Oh I don't know, doesn't really matter to me." She smiles at me, but then it suddenly fades. Her eyes seem to narrow, "What do you see?"

"Oh the same thing that you said, some kind of field." I hoped I sounded convincing. Cydney stairs at me for another moment but then seems to let it go.

"Well we best be off."

As we came to the end of the hallway it opens up into a huge room, with several different doors and hallways.

Cydney turns to me, "This is the main lobby."

"Wow, okay." This was some lobby. It had the highest ceiling I'd ever seen and in the center of the ceiling was a large crystal chandelier. There were five large windows and the light shining in reflects off the crystal chandelier, shattering the light into a million rainbows, it was breathtaking. I must have looked as amazed as I felt because Cydney had to gently tug on my arm to pull me out of my awed state.

"It's beautiful, right?" Cydney said, but without giving me time to answer she began pulling me down one of the many hallways. She makes a few quick turns and then we stop in front of a large wooden door. I start observing the many intricate carvings on the door, but then it flies open. "Here we are, the library."

It's incredible, even more so then the lobby and just as grand too. The bookcases seem to stretch up to the ceiling and there is a balcony that wraps around the room. There is a large green desk to the right of the door unoccupied and as I look around I began to wonder if anyone is in here. I turn to Cydney but she's gone. I look around, where'd she go? "Cydney?" I whisper, but no response.

Hmm? Maybe she needed to be somewhere. With nothing to lose I decide to look around. Maybe she'll be back. I began browsing the shelves, running my fingers along the weathered book bindings. They're were very few books within the wall, but I had always been fascinated by them. As I went through several isles of books, I pulled one or two out just to be able to feel them in my hands. I flipped through the pages, catching the smell of old books.

I was wondering through the isles when something caught my eye. A particularly large book, which looked to be the most worn of them all. I gingerly pilled it from the self. It had a dusty purple cover with gold lettering, the title read, "A History of Fairytales." This would be a great way to catch up on what a regular "good" person would know. As I skimmed the chapter list I saw there was a chapter on villains. I flipped to that chapter, hating that I was curious. Was there a section on my mother? I scanned the page when my eyes read over the words the Queen of Hearts. I cringed, but intrigued, I read on.

The Queen of Hearts is best known for her involvement in the life of Alice when she visited Wonderland. In Wonderland the Queen of Hearts was the ruler of the lands next to her husband the King of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts is known for her violent temper and quick choice of death sentences. Though the King and Queen had a good marriage they never had children. After her husband's death it is believed that the Queen traveled out of Wonderland to a town on the other side of the Forbidden forest called Goldton. Though we do not know why she went to Goldton, we do know that she stayed there for 3 years. As of now the Queen lives within the wall along with the other villains. _For more information on the Queen of Hearts involvement with Alice see Chapter 11: Wonderland. For more information on Goldton see Chapter 8: Goldton._

I frantically flipped to chapter 8. Did the Queen and King really never have children? What was in Goldton? In my haste I drop the book, in lands with a loud _thud_. I'm about the bend down and pick it up when another hand snitches it off the ground. I look up and am met by a pair of light blue eyes and a bright white smile.

"Here you are." The man hands me back the book.

"Um, thank you." I take it back, tucking it under my good arm.

He leans against the bookcase, smile still in place. "I'm Fletcher."

I try to smile back, "I'm…I-ivy." It seems to come out awkwardly, I'm hoping he doesn't notice.

"It's nice to meet you Ivy, are you new to school?" The confidence seems to come off Fletcher in waves and the way he seems to look down on my at his height makes me want to squirm. Don't get me wrong with his wavy honey brown hair, strong jaw and light blue eyes, I'd even call him hot, but he knew it.

"Y-yes I just arrived…" Was it yesterday or the day before? "A few days ago. I'll be starting classes tomorrow."

"Ooh I see. Where are you from, Ivy?"

I'm about to answer but am thankfully cut off by another handsome man and one I actually want to see.

"Oh there you are Ivy, I was starting to worry you-." Alaric brakes off when he sees Fletcher draped against the bookcase across from me. "Ah Fletcher, what a pleasure. What are you up to in the library?" A tight smile seems to form over Alaric's lips as he eyes Fletcher.

Fletcher stands up, coming to his full height which is just an inch or two shorter then Alaric. "I was just doing some homework, when I ran into our new student, Ivy, and we just got talking. She's quite lovely."

Alaric glances at me and then turns back to Fletcher. "She is isn't she? Well Ivy and I have some things to go over before she can start school tomorrow, so we best be off." He gently grabs my hand, which seems to dwarf my small hand in his grip. "Have a good rest of your day, Fletcher." Alaric leads my away from Fletcher, who gives me a wink as I pass, to a small circular table in a corner of the library.

We sit down at the table and I quietly wait for Alaric to say something. A few silent moments pass, he seems to be deep in thought. I'm about to say something when he looks at me. His eyes fall to the table, "Ur sorry about that. Fletcher is well…he's the kind of guy you don't really want to get involved with."

Not sure how I'm supposed to respond I say, "Okay."

Alaric looks up at me again, meeting my gaze and I can see a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "Alright then."


End file.
